Don't Forget Me
by Noxid Anamchara
Summary: Carol fled the walker invasion at the prison with the help of T-Dog. But they never came looking for her. He never came. Carol, a slight hint at Caryl and some T-Dog.


**EM**: When Daryl found Carol, I about died.

So here I am, writing about them. This is Carol during the time she was missing and all those damn bastards thought she was dead. (Shame on Daryl for thinking the same!)

Also, there's a small tie-in with my other Carol fic that you don't _really_ have to read to get. But it would be nice if you did. :) It's titled, _All We Are_.

**Disclaimer**: The Walking Dead belongs to Robert Kirkman and AMC. No infringement intended either for _Don't Forget Me_ by Way Out West.

**Rated: M** for a brief scene of Child Abuse and Language.

**Summary**: Carol fled the walker invasion at the prison with the help of T-Dog. But they never came looking for her. They _never_ came. _He_ never came.

* * *

Don't Forget Me

_T-Dog._

He was gone. Forever.

"_My granmomma used to make this sweet potato pie." T-Dog had this far-away look on his face, his voice getting real soft. The group was huddled around the fire, the cold pressing in on them from all sides. They huddled together, for warmth, their bodies seeking each other without any thought or care. It was _cold_ and it was only just the beginning of winter now. They shared a can of corn and green beans between the ten of them. _

_They were _hungry_. _

He had been torn apart, by the Walkers.

He'd done it, for her.

She turned down another corner, the walkers relentless. There were never many, but there was always another. _Always_.

"_It was the sweetest thing on earth. I loved that pie. I loved my gramma." T-Dog's face twisted up in a smile, remembering that sweet potato pie. Remembering his grandmother. Carol watched as some of the group in turn closed their own eyes, possibly remembering their own sweet memories of the before. She had none herself. _

She was so tired.

And the tears. She couldn't seem to stop crying. Couldn't stop the image of T-Dog being torn apart from flashing across her eyes.

She was supposed to be strong. Things had changed since she had lost Sophia. Since they had survived their first winter through the end of the world. She wasn't just Carol anymore. She was a woman who could take care of the group, who could patch up a severed leg, who could handle a rifle.

She killed for her family.

_T-Dog hummed as he took a bite of the corn, passing it along the circle next, to Maggie. "Damn do I miss that pie." Glenn chuckled softly, pulling Maggie closer in his arms. Maggie fed him a bite of the corn and passed the can along to Hershel. Carol didn't miss the small smile that passed over Hershel's lips at his daughter. _

Her family.

_Where were they?_

Why hadn't they come looking for her? Did they think she was dead?

Did _he _think she was dead? Did he not care like she thought he might have?

Had he given up on her so quickly?

The walker at the end of the hall turned towards her, moaning hungrily. She hated the walkers. Hated everything that they had done to the world. But she couldn't deny what it had brought her also.

"_I hate sweet potato pie." Everyone looked up at Daryl, who sat to Carol's right. He didn't eat the corn but passed the can on to Carol. She didn't miss the way his eyes avoided hers. She didn't think on it though. They were so close, for warmth, and she knew it must have been awkward for him to be pressed in so close to everyone. She still couldn't stop her mind from wandering to his leg pressed against hers, or their shoulders grazing each other every time either of them shifted. _

"_What?" Lori stifled a laugh, a hand holding her belly protectively, but Carl didn't bother too. _

She turned to go back the way she had come because she didn't have the energy to face it. She was so deep in the prison that screaming out for the others would just draw the walkers to her.

But when she turned, she found three walkers slowly making their way toward her. She couldn't go back. She was surrounded. There was no one to save her this time.

No one but herself.

"_How can you _not_ like sweet potato pie?" T-Dog pressed. Daryl shrugged his shoulders. Carol watched as Rick rejoined the group from his perimeter check. His face held a grave look, one that hadn't gone away for some time now. _

"_My grandma used to make that pie for my daddy every Thanksgiving. I hated Thanksgiving. My grandma only showed up with that pie, on that day, for my daddy." Everyone's faces turned down, but Carol knew it was just another part of what had made Daryl. _

"_And I hated my daddy."_

She turned and ran back, to the lone walker. She kicked it in the gut, and when it doubled over she knifed it in the head. Blood squirted out, running down the sides of the head.

She couldn't seem to catch her breath, and her limbs were so weak.

"_Well you're a damn fool for letting that mean old redneck ruin the best pie ever made." Daryl smirked and rose to take the next watch. _

"_Don't matter. I used to rub my old coonhounds slobber all over that pie. I sure did love watching my daddy eat it then." Carol couldn't help the laugh that burst forth from her. Everyone turned to her then, smiles coming forth now. Daryl looked down on her, the corner of his lip upturned. _

_She squeezed his foot, as the laughter warmed her up, just a little inside. _

She wished Daryl were here now. She knew it was selfish of her. She knew she should have been stronger, knew that she was. But she couldn't help the thought as it crossed her mind. She wished Daryl were here.

She wished T-Dog were still here. He should never have been bitten in the first place.

She turned to the three walkers advancing on her from behind, spread out like a fan. She pulled her knife from the dead walker beneath her and stood.

She was going to have to do this herself.

_Remember to keep your feet spread out. And don't be thinkin' about nothin' either. _

She could hear his voice, keeping her calm. Telling her how to do things right. He had taught her how to protect herself during that long, cold winter. Taught her how to do it right.

_Don't ever take them from your sight. And don't you ever let them get behind you. Ever. _

She turned into the wall at her left and went in fast. Pushed hard against the walker's chest and thrust her knife into its face, right beneath the eye. Blood squirted into her face. She pushed the walker into the one behind it, pulling her knife with it. They fell to the floor. The third one ambled towards her faster.

She cried out and pushed at its chest, and pushed and pushed and pushed until it stumbled over a body behind it, and fell through a doorway. Carol turned and ran right into the other walker and screamed once, before thrusting her knife up and into its neck. She turned and ran then, right into another walker. She kicked its shin, threw her body into it and then tossed herself through the door at her left, slamming it shut.

She pulled it tight, her arms straining against the weight of the door. She hoped against all hope that the walkers were stupid enough to not figure out how to open the door. Because she wasn't going to be able to hold that door closed for much longer.

But that walker tugged at the door, listlessly. She wasn't going to be able to do this.

She let loose a cry of frustration, dropping to her knees, her fingers never letting go of that door.

And then she saw it, a rusted hunk of metal sitting some feet away from her. She reached out to take it but her fingers fell short.

"Dammit," she whispered, her eyes burning now. She wouldn't waste T-Dog's death. She _couldn't_.

So she let go of that door and dove for the metal, her fingers finding purchase on it. She turned as the door opened slightly, enough for the walkers arm to come reaching through, its head coming next.

She grabbed hold of the handle next, as the walker grabbed tight of her shirt. It started gnashing its teeth, growling at her. And she put all her strength into forcing that metal chunk right through its skull, where it was embedded.

The walker went still and she pried its hand from her shirt. But its body fell across the doorway.

And she couldn't push it away. The door wouldn't budge more than a few inches open.

She was stuck.

_You keep your head down. And don't go running around, yellin' your damn mouth off like a fool. _

She fell against the wall, exhaustion hitting her hard.

_We'll find you._

But it felt like hours now. Maybe even longer. And it didn't seem like anyone was coming for her. She didn't know what happened after she fled with T-Dog, but she thought maybe someone would look for her, even just for a while.

She pushed against the door again, where it hit the body of the fallen walker. No walkers were getting in.

And she wasn't getting out.

She wasn't getting out.

"_Daddy, please, I don't like it-." The closet door slammed in her face, the lock clicking in place. She threw her hands against the door, sweat sliding down her face. _

"_You're gonna stay in there, and _think_ about what I told you, you little whoremonger." She fell to her knees, the tears cascading down her cheeks. _

"_But daddy," she choked through the door, "I didn't do nothing wrong." He began slamming his fists on the door, the rattling pushing her back against the wall. _

"_Shut your damn mouth!" She curled her knees into her chest, laying her head over her knees. "You hear me, you worthless piece of pig shit!" Carol began to cry softly._

"_You hear me?"_

Carol jerked awake to the sound of walker feet shuffling outside the door. But she couldn't move. Couldn't find the strength to get up.

"_There's just one thing that I need to say_." She had never given voice to her thoughts before. It had always been someone else before her. Deena, Beth and Maggie. It sounded strange to her own ears, her voice coming out like that.

"_Before I close my eyes and walk away_." Even when Sophia was a little girl, she had only sung to her when she couldn't sleep at night. Or when Ed had scared her.

"_There's just one thing that I need to feel, before I walk away against my will_." The shuffling grew fainter, as did her voice. She could feel the hours that had passed. Her body tired and weak. Her stomach empty and clawing at her insides. She didn't have the will to get up anymore.

She wasn't ready to go. She missed her baby girl, so much. But she wasn't ready to _go_ yet. She knew Sophia was safe, happy, with Deena and Riff.

"_Don't forget me_."

She wished Daryl would come for her.

"_Don't regret me_."

But maybe he thought she was dead. It was only now that she realized she had dropped her bandana somewhere along the way.

They all must have thought she was dead.

They would never come for her.

_He_ would never come for her.

She felt herself fading into exhausted sleep again, the last thought in her mind:

_Don't forget me._

* * *

She could hear it through the fog of her mind. Sounds of people moving through the hall. It was them. She could hear _his_ voice. She had to let them know she was here.

But she didn't have the strength to move and she faded back into blackness.

* * *

Shuffling was coming from the hallway. But not the shuffling of walker feet. They were steady, moved together. And they didn't make the sounds that walkers did. It was _them._

She couldn't make herself get up to move though. She couldn't even find her voice this time, to call out.

But she could reach over and push on the door, the sound of it banging, echoing through the halls. She needed them to _find_ her.

That sound, with each bang, gave her hope. The door jostled, and not by her hand.

"We'll take care of'em on the way back."

_His_ voice gave her hope.

_Don't forget me._

* * *

She kept pushing on the door but nobody came. His voice had faded until she wasn't sure she had actually heard it. But she had to keep moving that door. She had to have _hope_ that he would find her.

Like he had said they would.

She kept pushing the door.

She needed to see them. _Her family._

She had to keep pushing-

The door wasn't there anymore.

But _he _was.

Daryl.

He stood there, knife in his hand, poised to strike. And then his face twisted into something she had never seen before. He reached out, cupped her chin. His touch was soft, gentle, as if to reassure himself.

_Disbelief_. _Relief_.

He really did think I was dead, she thought.

And then his arms were around her, pulling her against him. There was a moment where she felt him linger, as his body quivered briefly. She hadn't been this close to Daryl since the day he had stopped her from going to Sophia. But she could feel it, in the way he held her then. He had thought she had died, and that had hurt him. Her head fell against his shoulder, her own arm wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer. And it was like she could _breathe_ again.

Daryl lifted her up, and carried her away.

_He found me_.

* * *

**Reviews are a sign of your kindness.**

**A/N: **I ship them. Caryl. Even if they don't end up romantically involved, those two are bonded, by a special force. And none of you can tell me that Carol is weak. Because that woman has survived.

Thanks for being here. See you in another life.


End file.
